Introduction

On our MA History you’ll critically examine social, cultural, political and public history and conduct original research. We’ll help you use different historical and interdisciplinary approaches to become a true historian, able to think critically and solve complex problems – identified by the World Economic Forum as the top two most required skills for the future workforce. Study in Cambridge and you’ll be part of a dynamic academic environment, able to benefit from our many links with local organisations and archives including the Cambridgeshire Collection and Imperial War Museum, Duxford.

This Masters degree will introduce you to new research methods and the analytical questions that go with them. This will allow you to develop an understanding of the problems inherent in the historical record – such as the many contrasting viewpoints – and give you the means to test them effectively. You’ll use digital and archival resources as well as develop the skills to critically engage with non-textual historical documents such as museum artefacts and visual sources in film or artwork. Through workshops you’ll choose a topic for your major project that calls upon the research methods you’ve learned and your awareness of the relevant historical concepts. By the end of this postgraduate course you’ll have acquired and demonstrated the skillset of a genuine historian – not just an antiquarian. We’ll also help you prepare for your future career with innovative assessment methods such as planning exhibitions or researching and writing radio programmes.

How you'll be assessed

We use a range of assessment methods, including essays, reports, source analysis and assessed presentations. These will allow you to engage with the ideas and knowledge taught on each module and to undertake original research, while thinking about how history is changing.

Careers

The skills you develop in our MA History will transfer across a range of careers, as well as provide a gateway to PhD research. By exploring how to make the past available to a wider public, you will open up careers in the heritage industry, archives and museums. You will also become an independent learner, able to manage your own projects and research in a confident and flexible manner, devise and sustain arguments and solve problems successfully. Such skills are transferable to careers in teaching, business, the media, arts administration, fundraising, librarianship, marketing, IT-related industries and many others. Graduation doesn’t have to be the end of your time with us. You could choose to continue your academic career with a research programme at ARU, such as our PhD in History or PhD in Sociology.